Kirton McConkie Attorneys Represent 82 Members of Congress on a Supreme Court Brief in a High-Profile College Admissions Case

Kirton McConkie shareholder R. Shawn Gunnarson, along with associates Jarom Harrison and Emily Haws Wright, filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (view the petitioner's main brief below). With the firm's financial support, the brief was prepared and filed pro bono. 

The brief was joined by 82 members of Congress, including Senate and House minority leaders and nine out of eleven GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It asks the Court to conclude that Harvard and University of North Carolina officials are violating the Constitution and federal law when they consider a student’s race in admissions.

As the brief explains, both schools “indisputably use race as an important consideration in deciding whom to admit. Record evidence suggests, in fact, that the challenged admissions policies may strive for racial balancing—an aim that is unconstitutional on its face.”

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision in 2023. Read the full brief below.